peteski

That is some amazing modeling and electronics work!

Not sure how many kits you would have to buy to make shipping costs economical. Also airmail shipping does get expensive when the box size and weight start getting big. For example, I use Hobby Search in Japan and have been using ECMS shipping (the cheapest trackable option). Bought 2 kits in standard Japanese kit boxes. Kits were 8640 Yen, and shipping was 5184 Yen In another order I bought 5 kits. They arrived in sizable box (again standard size Japanese kit boxes). Kits were 15360 Yen, and shipping was 8808 Yen. Yes some savings, but not all that much. The shipping cost is pretty steep.

You understand! And as you stated it will not happen, and those online companies will stay afloat supported by all the people who buy online (one of the main reasons is that brick&mortar shops are quickly disappearing, and will continue to dwindle) regardless of the shopping experience. Everything is online, online, online. Basically the online vendors have us by the short and curlys, so they don't care how bad your experience is. They know you will come back for more.

You understand! And as you stated it will not happen, and those online companies will stay afloat supported by all the people who buy online (one of the main reasons is that brick&mortar shops are quickly disappearing, and will continue to dwindle) regardless of the shopping experience. Everything is online, online, online. Basically the online vendors have us by the short and curlys, so they don't care how bad your experience is. They know you will come back for more.

You understand! And as you stated it will not happen, and those online companies will stay afloat supported by all the people who buy online (one of the main reasons is that brick&mortar shops are quickly disappearing, and will continue to dwindle) regardless of the shopping experience. Everything is online, online, online. Basically the online vendors have us by the short and curlys, so they don't care how bad your experience is. They know you will come back for more.

Those sure look like Fernando's wheels, and the ones I have are all-resin. They are hand laced with wire spokes, but the rims, hubs, and tires are all resin cast.

I like the way the magazine's art editor was able to restore colors on that photo.

And while it feels good to grouse about all this high-technology and overcomplication, the truth is that it's not only not ever going away - it will keep getting more and more complex.

When I was in high school, I never heard of that thing you call "Internet", and I managed to still learn things, and graduate. As far as the outage goes, maybe the Internet connection was fine the day before, and the outage just happened in the morning of the first day of school?

No Kidding! Sure, when buying directly from Japan the kit prices are really good, but the shipping costs are a killer. Total price ends up being within few bucks of buying these models Stateside. The only advantage is that you will likely get a newly released model sooner when buying it from Japan.

Yes, all what you mentioned Bill, but don't forget all those computers which do adaptive cruise control, lane departure correction, automatic-parking, and even some limited self-driving capabilities. Do we really need all that stuff?

I think today's vehicles and appliances (well all the electronic and mechanical devices) have gotten way too complex. Seems too complex to account for every possible issue while the item is being designed or tested. So things fail, recalls happen, software.firmware gets updated. Back in the day when you could open up the hood and see the ground under the car, engine used mechanical water and fuel pumps, and spark was induced by a set of mechanical points there was very little to break. Things were very simple. Not so much anymore, with each car having a dozen or more computers, smart light bulbs, CAN bus, direct fuel injection, etc. etc. If you think about it, there are many billions (or more like trillions) of transistors in a modern car, servos, sensors, etc. etc. More stuff is there, the more chances something will go wrong or will need updating. That's progress.

Sanding will always result is smooth but hazy surface. To get the paint glossy after sanding (and not using clear coat), you have to polish/wax it. Some people use automotive polish/wax. others use stuff made for models. Yet others use Novus line of polishes.

True, but the original formula attacked styrene (had to use Barrier coat first), but Rev1 were plastic compatible. Since those are flat finish,the are best for painting parts of model cars which are not supposed to have glossy finish. I miss Floquil too (but still have a small stash).

ARII sold those big/little BFG T/A tire sets on about 4 or 5 different rim sets. All those sets use the same tires. I dug up one of my sets. The small tires have ID=0.710", OD=1.070", and width=0.418" Large tires have ID=0.710", OD=1.170, and width=0.496" Since a visible outside diameter of a car rim is about 1.5" larger than the tire size, 0.710" scales out to roughly 16.25" (16") wheels in 1:25 scale and 15.5" (15") wheels in 1:24 scale.

Might throw in another car I think is gorgeous" Maserati Ghibly. I have 1:43 scale built-up models of it and also Volvo P1800, but I would love to see larger scale plastic kits of it. Heck, even nice full-detail 3D printed kit

The ARII BFG T/A big/small tire/wheel sets show up on eBay often. But while the tread pattern is correct for the period's tires, and so is the lettering, the overall shape of the tire (the sidewall profile) is not very good. Still, they are decent solid real rubber tires (like most other Japanese rubber tiers), and even if they were slightly too small, rubber can be stretched.

If you use a smart phone, I have no idea. If posting from a computer, you can drop single or multiple photos into the area with paper clip image under the compose window. Those images will now show up in that bottom section as "UPLOADED IMAGES". You can then left-click on each image to add it to the text in the compose window (will be added at the cursor location). As for quoting other posts, all you have to do is click on "Quote" link on the bottom left of a post you like to quote. Just like I just did here. Quote of that post will show up in your compose window (and the quoted text itself can be edited too).

Well, while we wish you pleasant retirement, the news that your decal line will continue is even better news to us modelers.

Speaking of Swedish, I think another car which would make a good model in 1:24/25 scale is Volvo P1800. It is a very good looking car. While it's performance is not quite there, its grille is reminiscent of a Ferrari.

True on all counts Noel, and you're right, I was looking at this from American perspective since I have lived here for over 40 years now. However in my early teens I lived in Poland and Humbrol tinlets were the only model paints available to me during that time. I recall seeing those for the first time, thinking that it was so cool that we had miniature paint cans for miniature models. And you yes, all those brands had a similar, yet distinctively different smells. And yes, all that does bring back some pleasant memories. I read somewhere that olfactory memories in our brains are strongly tied to emotions.

I wish we could come back 40 or 50 years to the times when all the modelers had for painting plastic models were hobby paints from Testors PLA enamel and Pactra. Those coatings were formulated to be plastic safe, and you could achieve pretty decent surface gloss and overall finish. And how many people even used any sort of primer. This discussion (sometimes more of an argument) we are having here would never even happen. Sure, back then there were few 9and I mean "few") modelers experimenting with some other coating,s but 99% of modelers were (happily) using the model-specific products. In current times we have a maddening array of coating coming at us from every direction. Many aren't designed to be applied to plastic. We have primer problems, We have plastic compatibility problems. We have paint brand and formula mixing problems, etc., etc. We have clear coat problems. We have Internet and social media. We have self-proclaimed paint experts. It's nutz!

Also remember that the paint (even if specifically made for painting rubber) and surface prep was properly done, the color will not be as durable as the real whitewall tires. In the factory-made whitewalls the white areas are actually light color rubber in a rather thick layer molded integrally with the black rubber while the tire is being made. So even if it scuffed, it will stay white. The entire life of the tire. Painted surface? Not so much. Not the best visual aid, but it gets the point across. Not sure why they show a separate veneer layer, but it clearly shows how thick the whitewall's white rubber layer is embedded in the sidewall rubber. It depicts narrow whitewall. Wide whitewalls are made the same way but the white rubber area is just wider.

It is so bad that even in USA we cannot make quality products. Just look at the recent Boeing threads here. We're all doomed. World needs a big "reset". Even if we tried, it will take many years to get things back to "normal". Probably long after I'm just dust in the wind. Oh wait, AI will fix all these problems. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Alclad II Copper has very finely ground particles so when applied it looks like smooth piece of copper. It looks like raw (unpolished) copper. Pretty much all Alclad II metallic paints are designed to look like actual metal (not sparkly metallic or "mica" car body paints). They are also airbrush-ready.